The Darkest Hour
by dauntlessmermaid
Summary: Earth is all kinds of wonderful and peaceful... except for its former inhabitants, humans. When allien invaders, Souls, have taken control of almost every last human standing, the very last remnant of human civilization awaits the end. But when soul Piper McLean's host, Annabeth Chase, refuses to fade away, Piper finds herself at a crossroads. Will she be the killer or the saviour?
1. Prologue: FIRST TIMES

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Heroes of Olympus, Percy Jackson & The Olympians or The Host.  
**

* * *

 **PROLOGUE: FIRST TIMES**

She becomes stronger when the night falls, when Piper's body weakens, making her eyelids close and her limbs numb.

She becomes stronger when Piper is _sleeping._ But never had she evoked such powerful and vivid pictures in her mind.

Without further questioning, there was nothing more intriguing and rare than dreams themselves. To be granted the ability to build fictional scenarios based on one's memories or thoughts was just… amusing and strange. They could develop such a wide range of responses Piper hadn't even experienced yet, she was eager to know them all.

Maybe that's why she let her gain control of her once the pictures started to reproduce in her brain like in a kaleidoscope. Piper felt her body —was it still _her_ body at this point? — petrify under the white blankets brushing her skin when _she_ made them stop, and Piper, having already gotten used to the constant review of the memories, felt, for the first time, scared.

That's when one last image unwillingly appeared. A face

It was a black-haired male's, to be precise.

He was young, Piper could tell by the abundant pigmentation of his hair and the absence of age marks old hosts used to have in the form wrinkles surrounding each corner of the lips and sometimes all over the forehead. Probably the same age her host was. His tan skin and dark messy hair somehow fitting with that smile slightly drawn on his face…he must've been chuckling over those constant inside jokes of his.

What?

And Piper had never felt so troubled about anything, but when she tried to describe the exact color of his eyes.

They were green, but not green like the wet itchy grass that she mowed every weekend. If possible, they were even _greener,_ much like the color of those tiny little beans they used to serve with chicken and rice at school.

Too absentminded digging into her host's memories in hopes of finding the answer to her question, Piper found herself overwhelmed by the presence of her host within her body. An unknown and threatening power had her locked in the farthest corner of her mind allowing the original owner of the body to regain full control.

For the very first time since she opened those strange new eyes, Piper felt terrified.

Eyes opened, the host had her right hand squeezing its own neck with unbelievable force. Unable to breathe and driven crazy by the terror, Piper gasped and shook her legs in an attempt to fall off the bed and crush her right hand under her whole body's weight, but the host wasn't about to yield.

 _I will not have my body to be your host, parasite._ A feminine voice murmured in her mind.

Piper felt an unknown feeling burn all the way from her feet to her head making her whole body shudder. _Anger._ She was not weak. She was a strong and experienced soul who was not to perish by the hands of any creature after so many lives.

 _I-I won't be damaged if you have this body to die. I can be inserted into any other host I desire._ Piper responded.

 _It'd be too late. Do you think I'm stupid? You cannot fool me._

 _You're a monster!_

 _I am the monster? For all I know_ I _was the one who got her life terminated just because an asshole requested a body to live in!_ She answered, her voice failing. _Your people kill mine._

 _We-we certainly do not—_ Piper's lungs ran out of air making dark spots appear at the edges of her vision. Her heart was racing as if anticipating every heartbeat could be the last one. She could actually feel the life being drained off of her body at such a high speed she panicked even more; tears streaming down her face, she managed to regain control of her left hand and with the very last remain of strength, she dragged her right hand away of her neck.

The host finally yielded allowing Piper to catch her breath.

She gasped violently several times, dragged herself across the room and sat with her back against her bedroom door, hands holding her head. Piper felt the anger leave her body the moment her back touched the cool surface of the wooden door and tears still streaming down her face she replayed her host's words all over again.

 _Y-you know it's…true._

Piper's eyes widened and she shook her head, still in disbelief. _Who are you?_

 _Who I_ was. _Now, it just doesn't matter._

Piper felt a twinge of pain in her gut at the memory of the last minutes of her host's human life replayed for her at the very first moment of this new life. One last tear ran down her cheek. _I'm Piper._

 _So I've heard._

* * *

The second time Piper's eyes opened, she opened them entirely by her own will. And rather than heading to college, she spent half an hour trying to decide whether she should alert the Seeker of this body about her last encounter with her host's…mind. She had been informed about other souls' experiences with human hosts, how their original owner could easily drift to nothingness within a little time based on its age or past experiences (like human hosts whose lives had ended violently) but Piper wasn't discouraged about it. Not even now as her hand caressed the purple spots her own fingers had produced around her neck. Finger prints.

She put on the grey and green scarf the doctor had given her as a present on the day of her insertion and stormed out of her apartment.


	2. I Cry

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson & The Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus or The Host. **

**A/N: Hey, dauntlessmermaid here with this new chapter, please feel free to leave a review with your thoughts about it so far. Thanks :)**

* * *

 _I'm going to die._

 _The wind blows in my face fast as the truck I'm in speeds through a bumpy road that leads to nowhere. I've never been to the parasite's headquarters and a shaky laugh escapes my dry lips as I realize I'll never will. This is the last time I will fill my lungs with the gentle autumn breeze that rustles my hair. This is the last time my eyes will see the night sky or the breaking dawn. And I yearn for more night skies, more sunsets, more breaking dawns. This is when I yearn for more time._

 _I don't give up the pleasure to keep my eyes open. I jump at the mere sight of every street light, every building. I even enjoy watching a tiny boring monster-child holding into his monster-mother's hands. Of course they're walking down this street in the night. They don't have to be afraid of one another like we once did. They're all bundles of joy and kindness packed in a body that's not entirely their own._

 _Streets are clean, hospitals are empty and stomachs are no longer hungry. If they have done so much good to our homeland, then why do we keep fighting them back? Why are we afraid of them? We are greedy, gruesome creatures who are always thirsty for blood. We are vane. We are a sickness. We should be eradicated._

 _They're free in a land that's been unwillingly taken by us. The hands that have mended earth so kindly are stained with blood. Our blood. And I realize they're not better than us._

 _I'm going to die, but I've never felt more alive before._

 _My heart hammers in my chest, threatening to tear it open and fly away to a place they'll never find. Fly away home. It beats faster than it has ever done and I find myself counting every single heartbeat and wondering what number will be the last one. Will it hurt?_

 _The path seems to be long and I'm relieved._

 _The truck stops at a stop light lowering the sound of the engine to a soft purr. It's quiet outside. I cry as I hear the lone howl of a wolf in the distance and I crane my neck to see the moon behind me. My first instinct is to count the days I've been away from home but I can't. The moon rises mighty as a giant white pearl glued to a night sky full of stars. I've never seen so many stars in my life and I try to count them losing track of my last heartbeats._

 _I yearn the sound of music and I wonder what would I hear right now if I wasn't about to die. Would it be a rock tune like in the old times? Would it be classic music? I cry as I realize I don't know much of the newest music._

 _I've been on the run for as long as I can remember, always making plans, always fighting._

 _Have I laughed enough? Have I cried enough? Have I seen enough? Have I_ loved _enough?_

 _I cry as I think of all things I've missed._

 _The truck stops again and I see the glow of the eyes of a squirrel climbing up a tree in a flash. My hand caresses the car's window as we speed far away once again, and I know I want more. Is it looking for food? Does it have offspring? Has it reached its destination?_

 _I close my eyes for a split second and try to imagine the tenderness of its fur as I run my fingers through it. Would it be light brown entirely or would it have dark spots?_

 _I'm tired but I force my mind to snap out of it and my eyes flutter open._

 _My eyes, they're gray. Stormy gray, I've heard. How will they look like when they open once again?_ Who _will open them?_

 _The parasites, they're talking to me. I can tell because their lips move but I can't hear them anymore. Their eyebrows frown and their mouths twist but they don't scream. One of them, a blonde young man, stares at me, its expression blank. I spit at him before I look away. I don't want to waste the last moments of my life staring at their filthy eyes. I don't want to waste the last moments of my life wondering what will they do to me and I don't hope they go easy on me. I don't want their pity or their mercy. I don't want anything from them._

 _I retrieve my hand from the window and stare at the scars I've gotten throughout the years as I think of every single one of the adventures I've lived through. Every time I've slipped through their hands and laughed at their backs knowing they're not getting me this time. Every time I've robbed and tore their houses. Every time I've run careless and free through the places their savagery hasn't yet reached. Every time I've stumbled and fall. Every time the rain has kissed my skin and satisfied my throat afterwards. I allow myself to close my eyes once again as I think about my favorite treats: the sweet taste of lemonade cooling my throat in a hot summer night, the sour taste of fresh orange juice in my mouth, the delicious smell of freshly cooked pancakes…_

 _My stomach grumbles and I laugh hysterically. There is only one person that would be able to think of food in this kind of scenarios. My heart skips a beat at the sight of his face in my mind but I refuse to think about him. And fail miserably._

 _My heart cries for just one more glance, one more kiss…_

 _I don't keep hopes at this point. I know what the only possible outcome is and it involves my body being outraged. I greet my teeth as I picture it in my mind._

 _But as a fragile, slow-thinker human, I can't rattle anything else but the moment of my death. I can say I've never thought about dying because I couldn't allow myself such self-indulgence, and I only found it even harder to think about when I stumbled by him. But as this comfortable, brand new truck drives me to my death, I now find it hard to ignore._

 _I tilt my head against the window and fix my eyes on the road._

 _It's pavement. We've arrived at the oldest neighborhood of the city. I'm surprised at how quiet it is. Being away for far too long, I'm also surprised at how different it looks. The architecture of the new houses is flawless of course, but I find myself looking for the smallest crack on the walls, the slightest damage on the cobblestone roofs…_

 _The parasites keep talking, something about a new hospital that's going to be built between the Fifth and Main, a few blocks ahead. I wonder if they even have patients. Of course they can get hurt, for human bodies are as fragile as ever, but still, their immaculate presence makes me doubt it._

 _I see a large building in front of us and I lose my breath. The hairs on my body stand on end, blood rushes in my ears, my hands and feet tremble and I know it hurts to feel alive. I feel sorry for losing the count of my heartbeats. I feel sorry for all the breaking dawns, and the sunsets, and the night skies full of stars I will miss. I feel sorry for all the words I didn't say. I feel sorry for all the love I could've given. I feel sorry for all the music I could've listened to._

 _I feel sorry for not living my life to the fullest._

I don't want to die.

 _It takes no longer than the blink of an eye for my instincts to take over._

 _My fist connects with the blonde young man first and he falls to the carpeted floor, hands covering his bloody mess of a nose. Another one grabs my arms and I drag my elbow to his ribs, one, two, three times. His knees bend and his body falls numb on my shoulder. The driver slams the brakes and I hold onto the back seat to keep myself steady. From the corner of my eye, I see him look at me and I know exactly how is this going to end._

 _We're near our final destination._

 _Before he can slam the brakes, my feet slam the back doors open and I push myself out._

 _There's a split second in which I'm aware of everything. I don't have time to close my eyes. I don't try to. But it's over soon and my broken body soon lies on the warm pavement. I can see the stars better now and I feel the fear leave my body just as their glow fades to blackness._

 _I don't cry anymore._


	3. Annabeth Chase

Piper woke up to sweaty palms and a knot in her throat. She hugged her body in attempt to hide the desperate tears that escaped her eyes as her mind couldn't help but relive the moment of _her_ death. She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breath as the first droplets of water collided with the bus' roof.

 _You're riding a bus,_ She reassured herself _everything is alright._

 _Ha!_

Piper balled her fists in exasperation and frowned angrily. She was determined to not let her host win the battle, and putting up with her annoying presence was the first step to be taken. She was mad at her for not─

 _Dying?_ The host guessed mockingly _I've already died. Didn't you pay attention last night, beauty queen?_

"Attention, passengers," the driver said "This bus is arriving at the Mill Center Station in shortly, please make sure to not forget any of your bags"

Piper looked outside the window and into the rainy background. The bus station she was arriving to, as the driver had previously announced, appeared to be completely empty. There weren't any more buses arriving at the same station at the time she hopped off the one she'd been traveling in, and it appeared no one was either inside or outside the bus station besides a couple black-clothed souls holding business looking suitcases. Seekers. A sudden fear ran a chill up her spine. She shook such irrational thoughts of her mind and started to walk herself out the bus station and into the street.

She had clearly underestimated the tiny droplets of rain that had started to collide against the bus window before. It was raging outside. Thunder shook the sky and wide rivers had already formed by the sidewalks and the edges of the street she was about to walk down. She heaved a sigh and checked her surroundings. After a hard time trying to decipher any opened building through the heavy mist, she spotted a lone building with the word _Diner_ in fluorescent italic handwritten-like style by the corner of the street. It looked old, with its damaged cobblestone roof and brick walls, but it promised a warm environment and tasty food.

Piper clutched her bag against her chest and ran for it.

A small voice that had nothing to do with her host warned her to slow it down, but she didn't listen. She was delighted with the humid air in her lungs and the cold droplets of rain kissing her hair. Her mind was in complete silence and Piper somehow knew her host liked this feeling.

As incredible as it was, she agreed with her.

She fastened her pace and laughed as she felt her feet slip, but was glad to had finally reached the entrance to the Diner. The moment she pulled the door opened her sense of smell was delighted with the strong scent of roast beef and French fries. Piper closed her eyes and saw brighter images of people laughing around a fire at night, roasting beef and holding glass bottles to their lips as they talked. It was over pretty soon, but Piper smiled at the stolen memory.

"Oh, hi!" a young feminine voice greeted her and snapped her back to reality.

Piper's eyes opened, alarmed, but relaxed at the sight of the bright smile on a young dark-skinned woman's face, stretching a hand to her. She shook it twice and nodded. "Hi"

"Welcome to Donna's place, my name is Soft Summer Air, and I will be serving you today. You can call me Summer, if you'd like" she said closing the door behind Piper "are you waiting for someone else?"

"I'm Piper" she introduced herself as she took off her coat. "And no, it's just me"

" _Enchanté,_ Piper. Let me take care of this" Summer said already snatching her coat of her arms "Table for two, then. Please follow me"

Donna's Place was larger than it initially appeared when Piper spotted it from the bus station building. Wooden-framed pictures of sunny backgrounds and peaceful countryside hung in the walls and a soft music played from every corner making her feel like being in a larger version of her apartment. Summer guided Piper to a free table by a window facing the same street she had come from and sat down. She took off the green and grey scarf around her neck and let her hair loose in an attempt to hide the purple spots on her neck as she watched Summer disappear behind a white door behind a large bar that probably led to the kitchen.

Piper held her head in her hands and closed her eyes trying to concentrate. She needed to obtain as much information from her host's memories as she could before heading to her healer's office in downtown. Piper still wondered if she'd made the right decision but realized it was already too late to back down as she remembered the call she'd given to Shining One, the healer that had conducted her insertion, back in the bus.

Piper took a long breath and focused. She managed to tear down the first barrier her host had built in front of her and saw a young girl's reflection in a mirror. The edges of the image where blurry but the girl's reflection was clear. Her blond locks of hair hung in two pigtails behind her ears and her startling grey eyes were fixed in her own reflection with disgust, probably because of the horrid pink dress she was wearing. The girl turned her gaze to the sound of a familiar voice calling her name.

 _"Annabeth, dear, it's time to go"_

Annabeth is her name. Annabeth Chase.

The girl vanished in an explosion of dust and in her place materialized a flash of pine trees and dirt. She is running in the woods, her hair is dripping wet and it sticks to her face and neck every time she looks behind her back in horror but she doesn't have time to tie it up.

" _We're not going to hurt you!"_ a choir of voices shouts from behind. But Annabeth doesn't stop. Her bare feet hurt and are probably bleeding but somehow she manages to fasten her pace through the woods and into the darkness. She cries as she finds out she's no longer afraid of what awaits her in there, for it means a safe place they might not be able to reach her. She makes a hard turn and runs down a small hill just before jumping to the dark river. The water is cold and makes her limbs numb but she manages to keep herself submerged in it until the lights of their lamps disappear. Annabeth swims for the edge of the river and with her last remnant of strength; she pulls herself out and on dry ground. She holds her knees to her chest as her shoulders shake in uncontrollable sobbing.

She's all by herself in a world that is no longer safe.

Piper jumps in her seat at the feeling of Summer's palm on her shoulder. She looks up at her and smiles. "Sorry"

"No problem" she reassures her handing her a plastered sheet with the menu "here's the menu. Would you like something to drink while you make up your mind?"

"Uh, yes, please" Piper said after a quick glance to the drinks section "I'd like a glass of natural lemonade, please"

"Natural lemonade, it is" Summer said retrieving a small notebook and a pen from her apron "I'll be right back with your drink, Piper"

"Thanks"

As soon as Piper's eyes followed Summer into the same white door behind the bar, she held her head in her hands once again and closed her eyes. The barrier grew stronger and impossible to go through this time. Annabeth had shut down the access to her mind completely.

 _Stop that,_ she demanded angrily.

Piper rolled her eyes and stared outside the window in annoyance. Said task was close to impossible.


	4. Charlie

**A/N: And here it is at last, Chapter III! This is getting veeery interesting, I'd like to recommend to keep track of the names mentioned... might have a little surprise coming your way. Also, I'd like to add (in case the POV switch has turned a little confusing):** _Italic_ **is for our amazing friend inside Piper's mind, Annabeth (also for thoughts), and consequently,** regular **is the other way 'round. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts and/or comments on this update with a review or a PM :)**

 ** _Disclaimer_ : I do not own Percy Jackson & The Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus or The Host.**

* * *

She knew it would start with the end, as wrong as it sounded, but knowing there was no such thing as preparation for this initial ritual, she felt anxious. Medications finally worn down, Piper felt wide awake, alert, and even though the eyes remained closed, she was astounded by all the things she could see.

A loud ringing sound welcomed her to this new world. No, it was the memory of a sound. The last memory had already started to play in her mind.

There was pain, not physical pain but a strange feeling that seemed to be tearing apart her whole body. There was not a proper word in this new language to describe the meaning of it, but there was something else, her feet, they _sensed_ movement even though she was not moving herself.

She was in a car, a truck. The truck had just started moving and it moved fast but it's not the fastest speed the host has driven. She felt bounded, trapped. Her hand rested on the cold surface of the truck's window. She was surprised it did have windows. She was breathing but made no effort in recognizing any particular smell at all.

Piper hesitated but didn't try to stop the progression of the last memory for she knew there was vital information she had and was willing to provide.

The memory was nothing else but devastation, not proper fear or hatred, as she had been warned most hosts felt during the last moments of their life, but the state of mind one takes after the cold realization of death. Of course there was fear and hatred but they had already been disposed of after realizing their uselessness. Longing, the host felt longing too. Piper tried to investigate the source of it but encountered blackness instead. Not blackness, but nothingness, as if the information had been erased.

Had the memory stopped?

Searing hatred filled the edges of the memory and Piper knew she was back in it. The host's eyes, _her_ eyes spotted a couple of people, ─ _parasites─_ a young child holding onto a middle-aged female. They were walking down a dark street and the host thought their lack of fear was humorous. The memory took then a different twirl. It was a memory within the host's memories, a progression of images of war and suffering. She used them to support her late reasoning. Piper felt the body flinching multiple times as the images unraveled.

Piper tried to follow the longing feeling again, this time growing stronger and stronger in the last memory, but hit a wall, the same feeling of nothingness as before, except for bigger and much too… guarded. The toll of memories stopped and was replaced by a much more energetic emotion, this time speeding past her control boundaries: Curiosity. Where did that wall come from? What was it so desperately trying to hide?

She willed herself to ditch said emotion and went back to the memory feeling the sudden feeling of superiority wearing off like the medications she had been given before.

The truck made a stop quieting its engines and she heard the sounds of the wilderness again, louder and much more beautiful this time. It was the lone cry of a wild animal. It was a wolf crying for the moon. Moisture gathered at her eyes making it incredibly difficult to see something else beyond the window but Piper found it hard to focus on anything else but the sharp feeling in her chest again. It was uncomfortable, a heavy something crushing her chest and impeding her lungs to inflate properly. Piper sought for the right word to describe it this time. _Heartache,_ the host would call it.

The host can feel the end approaching fast, and her heart pounded almost painfully in her ears.

The seekers were talking but the host made no effort in deciphering their words or in looking at them, except for one, a young male whose piercing gaze she couldn't avoid. Piper did not recognize his face but took in the common features of it: Nose in the middle, mouth almost at the bottom, eyes by the sides of the nose and a couple of ears hidden beneath a mass of hair. His eyes bore the thin silver ring around the pupils and it made him an enemy. The host tried to avoid his gaze once again but failed miserably. He did not look like a seeker with his untamed mass of light-colored hair, _blond_ hair, and calculating eyes. Not calculating, Piper thought, _see-through eyes_. They seem to see through her host and deep into the core of her whole being, she thought they could, somehow, see her emotions and she felt vulnerable because of it. She looked away before spitting at him.

She then retrieved her hand from the window and stared at it intently. She stared at the multiple scars that run through the sun kissed skin. A life of hard escapes and fear of being caught, images of so many different places and a variety of things passed through her mind in a flash, they were gone too fast and Piper could not do anything but notice the air growing heavier with stress and even more pain. Fear started to crawl up her spine as they finally seemed to approach an old village, probably close to their destination.

Piper was glad it happened fast.

Her fist and elbow connected with flesh and bones turning what seemed to be a peaceful ride into mayhem of violence and burning anger. Within the urge call of freedom and survival, there was a sudden moment of lucidity that took her aback. The truck's driver craned his neck to look at her eyes, his in such horror it made Piper shudder, but the host felt like laughing or maybe considered it more adequate to cry at that point but she knew she had cried and suffered enough. There was a moment where she was able to feel everything and it pained her to be capable of doing such thing while stepping straight on the threshold of death.

 _I don't want to die_

She pushed the truck's backdoors open and was immediately swallowed by nothingness. A screeching sound escaped Piper's airways as she felt her body finally colliding on the pavement with a quiet thud.

Pain. So much pain burned every single part of her body, limb by limb. Pain was everywhere. Pain was everything. Piper's throat burned too but it was a different fire, not the ghost of the pain of death but real pain.

 _This is just a memory_ She reassured herself as she heard the machines starting to register the fast beating of her heart _I am alive._

One last agonizing look to the shining stars above and it was all over. As easy as a single blink of an eye. Darkness engulfed her whole in just one bite leaving a sense of emptiness behind.

* * *

"Piper, are you feeling alright?" asked a preoccupied feminine voice.

Piper nodded at her but chose not to open her eyes just yet. "I was just reminiscing the day of my insertion, as I have done multiple times by now, but I still cannot find the error, Comforter"

Piper opened her eyes and focused on the delicate figure sitting behind a desk in front of her. She had made it through the unfortunate weather to the healing facility where her insertion had taken place all those months ago, but was not able to speak to Shining One and had been taken to the always available Comforter's office instead, despite her refusal. There was a reason she hadn't booked a visit in a long time with her assigned Comforter back home and that was simple: she had never needed one, not even as a young soul and she was definitely not doing it now. Still, she had made no effort in squinting pass her door and back to the waiting room but pushed it open, spotted the seat closest to the exit ─A dark brown sofa─ and made herself at home, as the receptionist had previously asked.

It was not until she noticed the Comforter's figure standing before that she realized the lack of courtesy in her acts. _I should have asked permission to enter and waited to be offered a seat._ Manners were still getting the best of her.

The Comforter's stern eyes and soft tone snapped her back to reality.

She tried to ignore her embarrassment by focusing on the Comforter. She was young, probably a few years older than her host with her warm chocolate eyes and bright smile, her short straight black hair swayed in the cold air that filtered through the curtains of an opened window, but she made no complaint as she tucked a rebel lock behind her ear for the fifth time in ten minutes. Piper could not follow her example.

"Because there is no error, my dear Piper" the black-haired woman assured her, stretching her arm across the desk to hold her hand. Piper rested hers on the Comforter's upturned palm awkwardly "I see you have been in so much stress…" she chuckled "you have been so brave, my dear, but you must know there is no need to"

"I am afraid I do not understand your last statement, Comforter" Piper said retrieving her hand slowly, eyebrows furrowed.

"Please call me Rose Blossom"

"I am afraid I do not understand your last statement, _Rose Blossom_ "

Piper was not happy about the way Rose Blossom kept addressing her. As if she was a…novice, merely a baby who was not able to function independently and whose mind was not yet able to process everything its eyes engulfed. But then again hadn't Piper herself expressed her lack of understanding before? How many human hosts had Rose Blossom lived in, two, three? Didn't it mean she was actually more experienced?

Her heart sped with anger regardless of the late reasoning. Didn't she know who Piper was?

Being new to Earth or acknowledging Rose Blossom's vast experience was not the source of her sudden anger, she realized. There was something behind the words that were openly spoken by the Comforter, the tone she used every time she remembered Piper's words about her own preoccupation about her host… was it empathy? No, _pity_ , her mind suggested.

Piper did not like being pitied.

I _don't like being pitied_ a voice spoke angrily in her mind.

Piper flinched slightly but chose to ignore her. Rose Blossom was strangely quiet… it took her no longer than a fraction of a second to regain her control once again.

"Excuse the unkindness in my words" she added fast "I'm afraid I haven't gotten the hang of manners just yet"

Rose Blossom's lips tugged in a reassuring smile, she nodded vigorously "Humans have so many rules when it comes to socializing! It gets me frustrated sometimes I must admit" she retrieved her hand too, held a bunch of papers the receptionist had delivered a few minutes ago and read them quietly. "So, Piper, I see you have not chosen a Calling yet, do you know something you enjoy to do?"

Piper felt most of her anger cool at the memory of a soft melody wandering the peaceful air of a classroom, where only two rows of heads separated her from the music instructor and his piano. Piper always tried to sit as closest to the center as she could, the eagerness tingling in her fingers as they yearned to learn how to play every single key her now trained ears could decipher. She smiled.

"Yes, I have found music quite… entertaining" Piper answered still smiling at the lingering memory "I also enjoy acting"

"That is wonderful!" Rose Blossom said still checking her profile "and your medical record is just fine, which is wonderful too" she said laughing a little bit.

"Thank you, I guess"

"It is my pleasure, Piper" she added putting away the papers.

"Rose Blossom?" Piper said her name slowly, doubtful.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

Rose Blossom's eyes lit with curiosity, she nodded energetically at her "yes of course"

Piper bit her lower lip and hesitated. This was a terrible mistake, coming here was a terrible mistake. "Why didn't you keep your host's name?"

"I don't know, I think I didn't want to let go of who I was before coming here"

Piper's cheeks felt hot. It felt so wrong and impolite to ask such a personal question but she had never wanted─ she had never _needed_ to be given an answer until this very moment. "Do you remember her?"

The Comforter's eyes stared at the distance for a split second as she seemed to gather her thoughts "Vividly" she said "do you?"

Piper's defenses weakened and she slumped in her seat feeling the rest of her anger fade away like smoke. "Yes, I do" she said, her voice breaking "more than vividly I would say"

Seeing no further explanation, Rose Blossom settled in her seat and sighed deeply "I used to dream about her old experiences, mostly about the people she had a strong bond with" she said smiling a little "The first days were hard, you know. All of her memories washed over me while I was asleep and every night I would dream about him"

Piper, who had been watching her dreamy gaze intently, couldn't help but ask "Who did you use to dream about?"

"A young man" she responded "Charlie, I believe she used to call him. See, my host, she had a pretty strong connection with him, they had formed an attachment over the course of their lives together and such bond is just hard to ignore once you meet it. As prone to violence and hatred as humans were, they were also prone to feel different levels of attraction towards one another. Attraction would then turn to something else, an even stronger emotion that develops deep within the very core of their existence. Love, they would call it. My host loved Charlie, and some of that love migrated to me, but she also grieved for him during the last moments of her life, she grieved for his lost"

"How is that even possible?"

Rose Blossom shook her head "I have no idea, but something tells me you're experiencing something similar"


	5. The Trespassing

**A/N: First, I would like to apologize for the insufferable long time it took me to update this chapter but if it serves as an explanation, I'm a total freak when it comes to my stories and I just didn't feel this was ready to be read. Anyways, as always, feel free to put your thoughts and comments in a review or a PM :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson & The Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus or The Host**

* * *

 _"I probably shouldn't be here"_

 _"That sounds about right" she says, following my suspicious gaze to the burned-out neon sign of the pub we just arrived to._

 _She's smiling brightly, that usually means trouble, especially for me._

 _"Oh, I see you got me wrong" I add as I crane my neck to check our surroundings. Thalia has occupied two slots in her poor attempt to park her mother's Taurus once again. Of course it's now, when I could really use someone to pick a fight with her because of her hideous driving skills, when nobody pays us any attention at all. Wrong: when nobody seems to be here at all. Leave it to Thalia to find an abandoned building within a five-mile radius of your school._

" _I meant_ we _shouldn't be here. Thalia, I had to drug my roommate and sneak out of Goode to get here. If anyone had seen me─"_

" _That's the key, isn't it?" Thalia says confidently as she turns the engine off "If anyone_ had _seen you_ , _as in something that_ could've _happened but didn't. A mere possibility"_

" _I would say 'had' as in most likely to have happened" I reply, angrily "this would be the second time I do this for you─" My eyes return to those electric-blue eyes, ―not surprised but quite amused― of my best friend as I give up the smile that starts to tug at my lips. "─don't make it a third"_

 _She smiles, a smile that is more like a grin, and I grimace at my shoes ever so slightly. "You know I can't make such promise"_

 _I sigh "Yes I do"_

" _Now get out, we're late" Thalia says eyeing me after a quick look at her wristwatch "and I don't want to violate Goode's curfew"_

" _As if" I reply, laughing._

 _I do as she says and decide against slamming the car's door as hard as I can. I can save that for later this night, after Thalia has successfully messed things up and I have to use my wit skills to get our asses out of trouble. I smile brightly at this thought and start wondering what her plan is for this unusual starred night as I follow her suit._

 _Always following; I wonder if there'll come the day when I get to lead on a crazy night of my own planning. Will it be even more dangerous than what she has planned for tonight? I certainly hope so._

 _I scan our surroundings thoroughly this time. The parking lot is empty and judging by the status of the two lampposts nearby, either damaged or burned-out, dark. Check. There seems to be a lone convenient store by the corner of the street, its lights are on but no car has driven past this creepy street since I hopped onto Thalia's car and attempted to talk her out of this, which makes up for fifteen minutes or less. I check my wristwatch._

 _Three AM._

 _What is the pessimistic scenario? Since I'm considering a hypothetical guard inside our pub and the guy in the convenient store as eye witnesses, there must be two of them: The one where the guard actually exists and gets us_ in fraganti ─ _which would be the worst case scenario─ and the one where the guy in the convenient store is awake and able to see us trespassing a private property ─which could make for either a worst case scenario or a pessimistic one if we managed to run away before the cops arrived─._

 _And of course, there is the one where we have a sleeping beauty in the corner of the street and no guard in the abandoned pub. The only way I could easily have fun Thalia's way. But since it's a delusional possibility, I must start planning our getaway, as I always do._

" _So, what's the plan tonight, Thals?" I ask, rather bored as we stop in front of the main entrance._

 _Thalia is dead silent. An alarm rings in my mind as I register the lack of humor in her expression so I follow her gaze to the entrance. I can't see much in the dark so I inch a little bit closer and let my eyes adjust to the dark. I almost let it go and man the doors myself, when I finally see what has caught her attention: the doors aren't chained, not even blocked. My body burns with renewed energy as I grab hold of the pull handle that glows silver in the moonlight, but Thalia snaps out of her illusion and digs her fingernails in the bare skin of my shoulder._

" _There's something wrong here, Annabeth" she says under her breath "we should get out of here"_

 _She's right. We should get out of here._

" _I'll just peek inside" I reassure her, my eyes fixated on the door handle "I'll be quick"_

 _Wrong, I'm so wrong. Usually when we exchange roles, there's something wrong._

 _Thalia's breathing fastens and is horribly loud and panicked until the point where I might've taken her advice and run back to the car, but I restrain my own fear and pretend to be determined as I look her in the eye. She shakes her head "I'll go with you"_

" _Good" I say, and I mean it._

 _Thalia looks between the door handle and me for a few seconds and nods. "Now"_

 _I pull the handle carefully, and retrieve my hand in shock. The doors aren't even locked, that can't be a good sign._

 _It takes me a whole minute to recover from the shock but I finally motion for Thalia to get in first and file inside the pub after her. I close the door behind us and turn around to get a better look on it. How would this be called a trespassing if the doors are literally opened?_

" _The door," Thalia whispers, a couple steps ahead of me._

" _I know" I say "It wasn't locked"_

" _No, no. See, in places like this," she explains, rummaging inside her backpack. "Doors usually make that creepy noise―"_

 _Suddenly, I bright light flickers in my eyes. "Hey!" I protest, as annoyed as I can pretend to be while using a low voice._

" _Sorry"_

 _I move aside as Thalia fixes the light of her flashlight on the door handle. Her hand touches the metal surface of both the handle and the mechanisms of the lock, testing its function, then closes the door a third time and steps closer to the opposite side of it, where the hinge must be. "See?" she says pouring some light in the door hinge and pressing her thumb to it._

" _It's oily" I say, thunderstruck._

" _Exactly" she nods_

" _So… What? It is clear that somebody owns this place" I say "he or she must've been pretty annoyed by that noise"_

" _No, I've been watching this place for days" she explains "Nobody had showed up before us"_

" _But you couldn't watch this place the whole day, right? There must be someone who comes here at a certain hour of the day, frequently. I don't know, maybe at night?"_

 _I almost laugh as I notice Thalia's 'critical thinking' face when a choir of muffled voices approaches from afar. I feel something crawl down my spine and sink its sharp claws around my stomach. My feet are rooted in the cracked floor._

QUICK, HIDE! _A voice commands in my mind, but I can't make my legs move._

 _Thalia recovers faster than me. She turns off the flashlight and drags me deeper into the darkness and away from the entrance, away from our fastest way out. I'm dragged down to the floor and pushed against something hard that hurts my head, I wince, and the pain clears out the fog in my mind, anchoring me to my body. I can't see anything now, but Thalia's arm holding me to her chest gives me strength. She puts her free hand over my mouth as the voices approach and I try to control my breathing._

"… _heard something"_

" _Don't turn the lights on, Morning Sun" a stern, female voice says, her voice a little panicked "there is a human male─"_

 _Morning Sun?_

" _It's Kyle, remember?" the first voice says, raspy, a grown-up male "Get used to it, Phoebe"_

 _Phoebe lets out a delicate laugh and sighs "Uh, human names always get the best of me"_

" _I know, I know, but we have to keep the cover" Kyle agrees, his steps getting dangerously close to our hiding spot "It is a matter of life and death"._

" _Oh, how I wish it was not" Phoebe says. The light of a flashlight pours a small circle of light into the main entrance "What was that you heard?"_

 _Kyle seems to hesitate. Thalia's hand slips past my mouth. "It was probably nothing"_

" _Shall we get back then?"_

" _Yes, of course" Kyle laughs "Ladies first"_

 _My eyes follow the circle of light until it gets out of my vision, doors swing, and Thalia and I creep around the bar to watch the old man lead his female companion to the kitchen. Another light goes on to our right and the sound of machinery roars to life in a choir of metallic squeaks and beeps. I want to reach them, I want to know who are they and what they're doing in this place but my legs have turned to lead. What am I scared of?_

 _I'm scared of a lot of things but getting caught is no longer one of them._

 _My heart roars in my ears and my head starts to throb but I will myself to push the fear into the back of mind as I try to focus on the details, the things I can recognize. One of the machines beeping in the next room, it seems to be an electrocardiograph._

 _From the corner of my eye, I see Thalia's dark figure rising to her feet, and I slip my hand into hers. She grabs it firmly and leads us to the kitchen doors, where light pools from two circular windows and onto the floor, pouring light onto it like spotlights. I make a move towards the entrance doors and tug at Thalia's hand as if telling her she's leading us in the wrong direction, when I hear him._

 _And when he sees us, I know we're his only hope._


	6. Starred Nights and Longing

**A/N: I'm sorry for letting this update take such a long time to be finished but things have been a little hectic around here and what you see below took a whole lot of effort to get out of my mind and into tangible language. I have so many plans for this story and I can't wait to reveal them all! As always, feel free to tell me your thoughts about it with a review or a PM. Good reading!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson & The Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus or The Host**

* * *

 _It was too late for me, Piper_ Rose Blossom's voice kept mumbling in her ears. _But you might still have a chance. Look for them, whoever you're longing for._

 _I simply believe this is just a remnant of—_

 _Who is_ she _longing for, then?_ The Comforter had asked, cutting her short. _Who are_ you _longing for?_

It had been fourteen days since Piper had —unwillingly— paid a visit to Comforter Rose Blossom's office and still, she had no tangible answer to her query.

 _The Comforter must be wrong_ she reassured herself. _Her opinion is much too biased by her own personal experience to be of any help._

That must have been it. She made a mental note to address the topic on the e-mail she was writing to Shining One. Piper grimaced. The healer who was not of any help either since he had not answered any of her messages these days. If not him, where else would she find trustworthy, non-biased advice?

An unknown _something_ stirred in her mind at the sight of the young, blonde-haired healer's picture in the computer screen. Piper narrowed her eyes. It was just Shining One flashing the brightest smile she had ever seen in his white healer's robe, a stethoscope around his neck. A picture that, apart from the obvious charm of the young human host's features, was so generic it would probably not stand out —were his looks not as breath-taking— from the other contacts' profile pictures in her e-mail home page.

That if she hadn't _seen_ that face before.

Of course she had seen that face before, after all Shining One _had_ indeed conducted her insertion into Annabeth's body. His face had been the first thing she had seen of this new world. But even after finding said logical explanation, Piper was not satisfied by it. She was about to dismiss it, a premise she had taken after the incident with her host, when another memory surfaced in her mind. Only, it was not entirely hers.

On the very day of her insertion, the moment she took the complete control of the body and the last memories of Annabeth Chase started to kick in. Seating in the backseat of a truck, she had locked eyes with him: a blonde-haired young man wearing a healer's robe just like Shining One's.

If the sudden anger had not washed through her, Piper might have thought the amazement of the discovery had been enough to make her head throb. Annabeth was clearly not pleased with this last trail of thoughts. Wrong: Annabeth was not pleased with _any_ thought that crossed their shared mind at all. Not one, not ever.

Piper shook her head, as if to dismiss this thought and resumed to the task at hand.

She re-read the content of said message, grimacing at how much of a… _cry-baby_ she seemed to have turned into, and pressed the off button of the computer to shut it down. Unlike many of her classmates, Piper didn't see the great appeal this form of technology had, but she could not deny it had become an efficient way to keep in contact with her new _earthly_ friends.

As she exited her room, the soul stole one last look in the computer's way, hoping Shining One would answer at last, and closed the door, heading for the dressing room.

Two weeks had passed and the question remained unanswered. And truth to be told, it had turned into more than just one question.

Why did she feel Rose Blossom was not trustworthy? According to the record on her, she was more than qualified to provide the guidance she needed. Hadn't she told her she had been born in the Origin, herself?

She remembered her first sessions with the Comforter she had been assigned to, who, having studied her poor record of experience, would constantly advise her to move onto a much more docile subject as it was her first time settling into a human host. But wasn't jumping from host to host considered as a sign of weakness among them souls? Of course no one would voice said question out loud, for it would be considered extremely impolite, but it was not necessary. And even if her choice remained shielded by secrecy, she would _know,_ and that was more than enough.

Piper refused that stumbling into Annabeth had changed her, but why did she fasten her pace every time she happened to pass by a black-clothed Seeker on the street? Why had she become reluctant to provide details about Annabeth's former life? Was it out of pride? Was it out of self-preservation? She did not like to give much thought about it, not now that life had just begun to take a normal pace, a much needed peaceful pace.

As the days turned to weeks and then months, a sort of routine started to kick into her lifestyle, and with the guidance of Mitchell and Lacy —a couple of souls inhabiting a brother and a sister respectively— who lived in the apartment next to Piper's, she begun to get a glimpse of what life could be like, were she to settle in for the long ride in Earth. They were similar to her in so many ways Piper was surprised to know she hadn't stumbled by them in the Blind World or any of her other planets. In fact, Earth was their second planet after a long peaceful lifetime in the Flower World, the place where they had befriended.

Piper had been born in this planet, and surely agreed with them when they stated to have lived the most placid time of their lives there.

Despite being so _young_ —two hundred human years at the most— their shared experiences in the Flower World were enough to lighten her day whenever she happened to have one of those agonizing nightmares of Annabeth. Piper could hardly remember the place where she was born, and hearing how wonderful a lifetime of sunlight sounded, she was able to understand why her Mother had wanted to give birth to her, alongside her brothers and sisters, despite she being at the very blossoming of her existence.

In regards to her host, Piper had refused completely to dig in her memories —mostly out of self-preservation— to which, she sensed, Annabeth was truly grateful for.

Piper was not one to disagree. Annabeth's nighttime slips, as rarely as they were now, were disturbing enough during the night to even reminisce them during the day.

But this night, after a particularly long and violent dream, Piper, too disturbed to go back to sleep again, decided to finally attend her host's voice, regardless of how _okay_ she would be about that course of action.

This dynamic had become truly exhausting for them both and Piper was determined to put an end to it before she would drag even more attention to herself.

After quick search inside one of the drawers of her closet, she walked to the living room and out to the only place where she knew she would find the most appropriated environment for this task: the balcony. She spread the blanket she had previously retrieved over the concrete floor, as it was too cold to sit on, and allowed her eyes to wander the city and its far lights, shining like the stars of that night: the night of the dream.

She then caressed the soft fabric of the cotton blanket and smiled to it remembering the day Lacy had given it to her as a present in the middle of their celebration of Piper's first change of season in Earth. Pink was certainly not her favorite color. She found it somehow too bright and sweet for her liking, but she had greatly appreciated the gesture, more even, as she had noticed how little she had confided to them when they gave her so much.

One long hour passed by and Piper was still taken aback by how beautiful it looked now when it bore the silver glow of the full moon. Still, she had hesitated to cast a glance to it for fear of what she would find later that night, when she decided to go back to sleep.

A full moon like that shone on the last day of Annabeth's life too.

Piper touched a hand to her chest ridiculously anxious to make sure she was still alive. Her muscles relaxed when she finally felt her heart beating steadily under her skin, and she grimaced to the grass. She couldn't help but feel miserable at the memory of _her_ thoughts and how they had consisted mostly on regrets.

At the time of the end of her life, there wasn't anything Annabeth would regret more than not having _lived_ enough. And she was not referring to the years she had aged, but to the things she ought to have experienced before parting, before death. She had regretted not having seen enough through these eyes, these _same_ eyes that were so fixated on the _same_ moon she had seen during the last moments of her life.

Piper turned her back on the balcony and stared at her reflection in the glass door in front of her. A tall, lean young woman stared back, her strong arms limb at her sides. The corners of her lips turned up in a slight smile making Piper flinch. Of course she had been one to turn heads. Not just because of her attractive features, but the way she used to carry herself with her shoulders pushed back and her startling gaze. One knew better than to get on Annabeth Chase's nerves.

 _It is clear that_ I _did not get that memo._ Piper thought holding back a laugh.

She closed her eyes and wandered through the battlefield of their minds, surprised to not find the same barrier holding her back. She gasped, taken aback by the kaleidoscope of images that crashed into her like a wrecking ball. Piper grew anxious as she saw them flash by, her mind barely able to register bits and pieces of one before it faded away and another took its place.

She was well accustomed to the violent memories that appeared in her dreams, but as more memories flashed in her mind, she found it hard to believe that this girl had been the one to live all the brutal things Piper used dreamed about.

The soul was at a loss of words at the sight of so much light, so much peace, so much… _love_.

She saw a middle-aged man with sandy colored hair reading an old-looking book on a red carpeted floor next to the crackling fire of a chimney and the faint smell of hot chocolate lingering in the air. She saw a black dog of great size curled up over a patch of yellowish grass. _She_ was snoring, Piper noticed with a chuckle. She saw a crowd of people gathered around a bonfire laughing and singing at the top of their lungs. _Home_ , it was.

 _Is this what you long for?_ The soul asked.

There was no answer.

Piper allowed herself to savor what little pleasant memories Annabeth had given up, for a little while before opening her eyes to the present. She was no longer sure that this reality—this new life—was better than the savagery of the things in her dreams if it meant to cause so much misery to someone else.

 _But wouldn't their fate be worse if_ we _hadn't come along, if we hadn't_ saved _Earth?_ She thought

Her eyes drifted to her reflection in the glass once more, a faint smile tugging at her lips. What was once an impossible hair to tame, was now tucked in a braid that hung from her shoulder, the curly tip of it swaying in the winter air of that fateful night.

She stretched her arm and brushed her fingers lightly across the cold surface of the glass. After what seemed yet another hour, she followed the reflection of the woman as she pulled the door open and filed into her apartment in silence.


End file.
